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THE  WORK  OF  THE  MINISTRY, 


A  X 


INAUGURAL  SERMON, 


DELIVERED  IX  THE 


FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 


GALENA,  SUNDAY  MORNING,  OCT.  26,  1856, 


/  I  * 

-'I! 


BY 


ARTHUR  SWAZEY,  PASTOR. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST. 


m%  GALENA: 

H.  H.  HOUGHTON  k  CO.,  PRINTERS,  GAZETTE  &  ADVERTISER. 

1856. 


km 


X 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  MINISTRY, 


INAUGURAL  SERMON, 


I>p]LIVERED  IN  THE 


FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 


GALENA,  SUNDAY  MOKNING,  OCT.  26,  1856, 


ARTHUR  SWAZEY,  PASTOR. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST. 


.  GALENA: 

H.  H.  HOUGHTON  &  CO.,  PRINTERS,  GAZETTE  AND  ADVERTISER  OFFICE. 

1856. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


https://archive.org/details/workofministryinOOswaz 


^  \/^  P  i 


S  E  R  M  O  . 


a> 


-Lot  a  man  so  account  of  ns  as  of  the  Ministers  of  Onaisr,  and  Slew 
avds  of  the  mysteries  of  God.”— I.  Cor.;  iv,  1. 


The  Church  may  exist  temporarily  without  the  Ministry,  but  it  is 
chmplete  and  permanent  in  its  organization  only  when  it  is  supplied 

with  Pastors  and  Teachers. 

In  the  passage  before  us,  the  Apostle,  haring  carefully  guarieti 
against  seeming,  even,  to  desire  an  over-estimate  of  Imnse  ,  claims 
nevertheless,  to  be  heard  and  heeded  in  the  church  at  Corinth,  on  the 
ground  that  he  is  set  apart  of  God  for  the  express  purpose  of  opening 
the  secrets  and  applying  the  principles  of  the  gospel,  -  that  his  ministiy 
is  with  authoritv.  — that  it  comprehends  a  work  the  bretliien  ca  , 
fully  perform,  namely ;  The  Stewardship  of  the  mysteries  of  God. 

Xor  may  it  be  supposed  that  this  claim  had  reference  altogether  to 
the  Apostolic  office,  in  distinction  from  the  general  office  of  the  Chiis. 
tian  Ministry.  If,  at  the  beginning  of  Christianity,  there  was  need  of  a 
steward.5hip  of  the  mysteries  of  God,  there  is  now  the  same  need,  or, 
by  the  same  mysteries  the  world  is  to  be  saved.  There  being  the  same 
office,  the  claims  that  were  made  on  the  ground  of  that  office,  are  war- 

ranted  in  the  ministry  at  the  present  day. 

I'he  importance  of  the  ministry  to  the  Church  is  set  forth  in  a  fami  - 
iar  paragraph  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  (iv;7-15):^  “But  unto 
eveiT  one  of  us  is  given  grace  according  to  the  gift  of  Christ.  Where¬ 
fore  he  saith,  When  he  ascended  upon  high,  he  led  captivity  captive,  an 
gave  gifts  unto  men.  ^  ^  And  he  gave  some,  apostles;  and 

some,  prophets;  and  some,  evangelists;  and  some,  pastoi^s  and  teachers; 
for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints;  for  the  work  ot  the  ministry;  loi  the 
edifyino-  of  the  body  of  Christ;  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  ol  tb^ 
faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man. 


4 


*  *  *  That  we  *  *  may  grow  up  into  him,  in  all  things,  which 
is  the  head,  even  Christ.”  The  ministiy,  then,  is  a  gift  of  God  — 
designed  to  build  up  the  church  —  to  bring  men  to  the  same  faith  and 
knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God;  to  make  them  sound  in  doctrine,  strong- 
in  heart;  until  they  come  into  the  likeness  of  Christ,  and  are  made 
one  with  each  other  and  with  Him  in  love. 

There  were  originally  five  offices  in  the  Christian  Ministry.  Three  of 
them  were  in  their  nature  temporary.  The  apostles,  so  far  as  they  were 
a  distinct  order  in  the  ministrv,  were  witnesses  of  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,  and  had  special  powers,  over  all  others,  in  the  organization  and 
discipline  of  the  infant  Church.  In  strict  language,  therefore,  they 
could  have  no  successors.  The  evangelists  were,  perhaps,  missionary 
preachers,  endowed  with  peculiar  gifts  of  speaking.  The  prophets  were 
those  who  received  special  revelations,  to  be  communicated  to  others. 
These  three  orders  of  the  ministry  have  in  a  measure  passed  away. 
AVe  have,  however,  a  sphere  of  labor  akin  to  that  of  a  New  Testament 
evangelist ;  and,  for  aught  we  know,  prophets  may  ari.se  at  any  time  in 
the  Church.  The  different  offices  of  pastor  and  teacher  have  been 
merged  into  one,  though  we  have  only  a  single  page  of  history  to  turn 
back,  to  find  the  Puritan  Fathers  ordaining  both  a  pastor  and  a  teacher 
over  a  single  Church.  AYhether  or  no  there  has  been  a  departure  fi’om 
the  original  design  in  the  institution  of  the  ministry,  as  matter  of  fact 
the  stewardship  of  the  mysteries  is  committed,  ordinarily,  to  a  single 
man,  and  that  process  of  “establishing,”  “edifying,”  and  “perfecting,”  of 
the  saints,  is  within  the  measure  and  range  of  his  commission,  as  a  ser¬ 
vant  set  apart  to  a  peculiar  work. 

The  importance  of  the  Christian  Ministry  is  to  be  inferred  from  the 
Apostle  s  comparison  of  it  to  the  Mosaic  Ministry.  He  says,  writing  to 
the  Corinthians,  (2  Cor.,  hi,  3.):  “Ye  are  manifestly  declared  to  be  the 
epistles  of  Christ,  ministered  by  us,  wntteii  not  with  ink,  but  with  the 
spirit  of  the  li^ing  God.  *  *  *  Not  that  we  are  sufficient  of  our¬ 

selves,  but  our  sufficiency  is  of  God,  who  also  hath  made  us  able  minis¬ 
ters  of  the  New  Testament.  *  *  *  But  if  the  ministration  of 

death,  written  and  engraven  in  stones,  was  glorious,  *  *  how  shall 

not  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit  be  rather  glorious.  For  if  the  min¬ 
istration  of  condemnation  be  glorv,  much  more  doth  the  ministration  of 
righteousness  exceed  in  gloiy  *  *  God  hath  given  unto  us  the  min- 

istiT  of  reconciliation.”  If  it  might  be  said  that  none  had  arisen  greater 


5 


than  John  the  Baptist,  and  yet  the  least  in  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  is 
greater  than  he,  so,  may  it  not  be  said,  that  the  office  of  the  law-giver 
to  Israel,  great  as  it  was,  was  less  than  the  office  of  the  least  of  those 
who  are  accredited  and  faithful  ministers  of  Christ,  and  stewards  of  the 
newlv  revealed  mvsteries  of  God  ? 

But  the  greatness  and  importance  of  the  work  of  the  ministiy,  may  be 
seen  by  entering  more  particularly  into  the  nature  and  aim  of  the  work 
itself. 

WHAT  IS  THE  OFFICE  WOEK  OF  A  CHEISTIAN 

MINISTER? 

A  part  of  this  office  work  is  to  administer  the  sacraments.  Whether 
the  administration  of  them,  in  peculiar  circumstances,  may  not  be  the 
privilege  of  the  laity,  is  a  question  it  is  hardly  necessary  for  us  to  decide. 
Whatever  answer  may  be  given,  it  is  quite  clear,  that  to  officiate  in  the 
ritual  of  Christianity,  belongs  naturally,  and  by  arrangement,  to  the  simple 
functions  of  Christ’s  ministiy. 

That  a  certain  power  of  discipline  belongs  to  the  ministry,  is 
strongly  intimated,  if  not  directly  asserted,  in  the  New  Testament. 
Passing  by  all  that  is  said  or  implied  of  apostolic  authority,  as  referring 
to  a  class  of  men  specially  endowed  for  a  special  purpose,  and  there  are 
left  yet,  indications  that,  so  far  as  government  is  concerned,  a  minister 
occupies  a  place  not  occupied  by  any  layman  in  the  Church.  A  pastor 
is  not  to  lord  it  over  God’s  heritage,  but  to  be  an  ensample  to  the  flock. 
The  very  injunction  laid  upon  him  not  to  abuse  power,  is  a  sign  of 
power  committed  to  him.  The  power  is  limited  and  balanced  in  a  vari¬ 
ety  of  ways,  but  it  is  nevertheless  vested  in  him  when  duly  accredited 
and  freely  chosen.  Timothy  and  Titus  are  the  only  ministers  aside  from 
the  apostles,  of  whom  we  know  much  from  the  New  Testament.  St. 
Paul,  writing  to  the  former,  says  of  a  Bishop,  that  “  he  must  be  one  who 
ruleth  his  own  house  well,  for  if  a  man  know  not  how  to  rule  his  own 
house,  how  shall  he  take  care  of  the  Church  of  God?  ”  “Against  an 
elder,”  he  says,  “  receive  not  an  accusation  but  before  two  or  three  wit¬ 
nesses,”  as  though  Timothy  had  a  special  responsibility  and  authority 
in  cases  of  discipline.  To  Titus,  who  was  pastor  of  the  Church  in 
Crete,  he  says:  “I  left  thee  in  Crete  that  thou  shouldest  set  in  order  the 
things  that  are  wanting,  and  ordain  elders  in  every  city.”  “  These  things 
apeak,  and  exhort  with  all  authority.  Let  no  man  despise  thee.”  “A 


6 


man  that  is  a  heretic  after  the  first  and  second  admonition,  reject.”  We 
learn  from  various  other  scriptures,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  power 
of  discipline  resides  in  the  brethren,  or  those  of  them  who  may  be  cho¬ 
sen  to  take  charge  of  the  afiaire  of  the  Church.  We  must  therefore 
interpret  the  passages  we  have  quoted  in  conformity  with  sucli  a  usage. 
And  so  interpreted,  while  they  take  an  irrisislible  or  irresponsible  power 
out  of  the  hands  of  a  minister,  make  it  incumbent  on  him  to  see  that 
the  things  that  are  wanting  are  set  in  order,  and  that  heretics,  or  dis¬ 
turbers  of  the  Church,  are  properly  dealt  with.  He  has  the  general 
oversight  of  these  affairs,  and  may  act  with  reference  to  them  as  it  may 
not  be  competent  for  any  other  person  to  act,  being,  as  he  is,  a  bishop 
and  shepherd  of  souls. 

A  minister  may,  and  must,  rebuke  and  warn;  —  not  as  one  man  may 
rebuke  and  warn  another,  but  with  a  certain  authority  which  is  not  to 
be  despised,  and  which  makes  it  simply  a  discharge  of  duty  in  him  to 
do  that,  which,  in  another  man,  might  justly  be  regarded  as  officious  and 
meddlesome.  He  is  resj)ousible  as  no  other  man  can  be  for  the  purity 
and  growth  of  the  Church.  It  is  his  charge,  for  which  he  must  give 
account,  and  therefore  he  must  be  authorized  to  have  the  control  of  its 
affairs  beyond  that  of  others,  who  have  not  the  weight  of  his  resjDonsi- 
bility  upon  them.  And  if  any  think  it  is  assumption  or  usurpation  on 
his  part  to  exercise  that  superior  control,  they  should  be  as  eager  to 
reduce  his  responsibility  to  the  same  measure  as  their  own. 

The  Church  is  not  what  it  is  sometimes  conceived  to  be,  a  pure  dem¬ 
ocracy.  It  is  eminently  democratic  in  its  constitution  and  government 
but  is  a  modified  democracy.  A  social  club,  Avhich  has  no  officers,  and 
in  which  everything  is  determined  directly  by  the  popular  voice,  is  a 
pure  democracy;  A  State  Government,  in  which  the  most  ignorant  — 
or  the  wisest  —  have  not  so  much  voice  as  the  duly  constituted  officers 
of  the  commonwealth,  is  a  modified  democracy  —  a  republican  govern¬ 
ment.  And  so  is  the  Church,  after  its  organization  is  complete,  and 
powers  are  put,  according  to  scriptural  authority  and  usage,  into  certain 
hand.  The  Christian  Ministry  is  a  ''gift" — or  rather,  a  combination 
of  many  of  the  "gifts"  of  the  Xew  Testament.  The  minister  is  set 
apart  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Presbyteiy;  but  no  one 
supposes  he  is  any  the  holier  on  that  account,  but  rather  that  he 
is  clothed  with  power,  without  which  it  is  impossible  to  conceive 
of  office,  and  that  as  he  is  ordained  of  God,  he  has  the  pledge  of  God, 


t 


under  conditions,  for  wisdom  suitable  to  the  sphere  to  which  he  is  called. 
For  no  man  taketh  the  ofi!c3  of  bishop  upon  himself.  He  has  an  inward 
and  outward  call  thereto.  He  does  not  choose  the  ministry  out  of  his 

V 

natural  will,  as  one  of  the  professions  of  life;  but  is  urged  to  it  by  the 
feeling' — “Woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel!”  and  is  acknowledged 
by  the  church  as  competent  to  the  work,  by  reason  of  their  faith  in 
the  attendance  of  the  Spirit  upon  him. 

While,  however,  as  a  ruler  in  the  Church  a  Christian  minister  must 
not  suffer  his  office  to  be  stripped  of  its  dignity,  and  authority,  by  those 
who  may  be  restive  under  the  established  order  of  the  gospel ;  and  must 
sometimes  follow  the  Apostle’s  counsel  to  Titus,  and  rebuke  sharply 
those  who  answer  to  the  description  given  of  the  ancient  Cretians  by 
one  of  their  own  projDhets;  must  “stop  the  mouths  of  those  who  sub¬ 
vert  whole  houses,  teaching  things  which  they  ought  not,”  and  give  no 
place  to  disturbers  —  no,  not  for  an  hour;  his  authority  is  not  like 
that  conferred  by  any  human  government.  He  is  to  “  set  in  order  the 
things  that  are  wanting,”  not  by  decrees  of  his  own  ;  not  by  an  arbi¬ 
trary  determination  of  what  the  divine  decree  requires;  nor  by  the 
rigid  technicality  of  an  acknowledged  law;  but  by  instructing, —  by 
stirring  up  the  mind  to  remembrance, — by  leading  others  to  see  from  his 
own  point  of  observation,  and  bringing  them  into  the  light  and  glow  of 
the  truth.  He  is  to  rebuke  with  all  long  suffering  and  j^atience  —  to 
be  more  of  a  servant  than  a  master  —  more  of  a  shepherd  than  a  king 
His  art  of  ruling  is  persuasion.  Single-handed  he  can  inflict  no  penal¬ 
ties,  though  he  can,  and  must,  insist  upon  the  “  thus  saitli  the  Lord,’» 
from  which,  when  duly  determined,  there  is  no  appeal. 

The  great  work  of  the  ministry  is  to  'preach  the  gospel.  The  com¬ 
mission  is  “  Go  teach  all  nations.”  It  is  by  the  foolishness  of  preach¬ 
ing  that  the  world  is  to  be  saved.  There  are  various  ways,  however 
of  preaching.  It  may  be  done  from  house  to  house,  in  the  fields, 
in  the  workshop,  in  the  market  place,  or  in  a  temple  consecrated  to  the 
worship  of  God;  by  a  book  or  by  a  sermon;  in  fine,  in  every  way  in 
which  the  ear  can  be  gained  and  the  heart  reached.  The  Apostles 
preached  in  the  streets  and  on  the  sea  shore;  in  attic  chambers, in  court¬ 
houses,  on  the  steps  of  theatres,  in  palaces  and  prisons,  in  synagogues} 
in  the  temple;  by  letters,  by  sermons,  by  allegories  and  parables,  by  pri¬ 
vate  conversation;  and  where  or  how  most  effectively,  (if  we  pass  by 
Pentecost)  it  would  be  difficult  to  decide. 


8 


As  tlie  people  believed  and  churches  gathered,  2)reaching  began 
TO  be  centralized.  Set  places  and  times  were  appointed  for  hearing  the 
word.  The  Apostles  were  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  missionaries,  who 
traversed  the  world  to  make  known  the  remission  of  sins  through  Christ 
crucified,  and  remained  here  or  there  but  a  little  time.  Their  first  work, 
however,  after  planting  churches,  was  to  ordain  elders  in  the  churches 
they  had  formed;  and  the  next  generation  of  preachers  after  them,  are, 
for  the  most  part,  the  regular  ministei-s  of  a  particular  charge.  The 
work  of  the  ministry,  while  it  is  essentially  the  same,  now  begins  to 
assume  something  of  a  new  phase.  The  preacher  is  to  address  the  same 
peoj)le  —  to  establish  and  build  them  up  in  the  faith;  to  fortify  a  strong¬ 
hold  in  the  very  midst  of  Judaism,  or  heathenism,  and  to  keep  alive  the 
flame  kindled  by  the  apostles.  A  new  convert  himself,  or  an  elder,  who^ 
from  presiding  over  the  assembly  has  come  to  be  a  teacher,  he  must  now 
enlarge  the  bounds  of  his  biblical  learning,  and  furnish  himself  for  a 
clear  and  constant  exhibition  of  the  prirtleges  and  the  hopes  of  the  gos¬ 
pel.  He  must  now  give  himself  to  reading;  he  must  meditate  on  these 
things,  and  lead  his  flock  into  fresh  pastures  day  by  day.  Street-preach¬ 
ing,  field-preaching  and  house-preaching,  are  not  abandoned;  but  there 
are  now  regularly  organized  assemblages  of  the  saints;  others  are  gathered 
with  them,  and  in  these  congregations  is  exercised,  in  a  peculiar  manner 
the  stewardship  of  the  mysteries  of  God. 

The  ministry,  in  suiting  itself  to  the  different  ages  of  the  Church,  has 
always  made  use  of  appointed  seasons  for  exhibiting  the  riches  of  grace. 
The  ordinance  of  a  Sabbath-Sanctuaiy  has  come  down  to  us,  and  the 
puljnt  rightly  claims  to  be  the  place  for  instructing  and  quickening  the 
people  in  the  knowledge  of  God.  AYhatever  other  work  the  Christian 
minister  may  do  or  leave  undone,  the  set  preaching  of  the  gospel  is  pri¬ 
mary,  and  to  it  everything  else  must  yield. 

And  as  the  minister  must  not  only  speak  to  the  people,  but,  in  speak¬ 
ing,  feed  the  flock,  he  must  ^be  thoroughly  furnished  for  his  work.  The 
Having  doctrines  of  the  gospel  lie  open  to  view,  but  to  bring  them  into 
order  in  the  minds  of  men,  and  into  contact  with  their  hearts,  is  no  super¬ 
ficial  or  hasty  work.  Besides  spiritual  quahfications,  the  work  impera¬ 
tively  demands  a  clear  understanding,  learning  enough  to  know  the  folly 
of  all  mere  teaming,  a  knowledge  of  human  nature,  a  thorough  discipline 
of  the  intellectual  powers,  and  above  all,  a  knowledge  of  the  revelation 
of  God,  and  a  stretch  of  mind  that  can  make  all  things  tributary  to  the 


honor  of  Christ,  and  the  verification  of  the  truth.  TVe  repeat,  the 
preacher  must  hQ  furnished  for  his  work. 

In  the  first  place,  that  he  may  not  falsify  the  principles  and  method 
of  the  divine  government.  A  man  may  be  a  good  man  —  have  the  life 
of  Christ  in  him,  and  yet  be  ignorant  of  the  genius  of  the  gospel,  and 
so  be  poorly  qualified  to  be  a  teacher  of  the  things  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  “Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,”  is 
the  simple  covenant  of  life.  But  all  the  rest  of  the  Bible  was  not 
written  in  vain.  The  numerous  books  are  not  stale  repetitions  nor  anti¬ 
quated  histories,  nor  worn-out  conceits;  but  each  of  them,  and  all  together, 
a  treasury  of  wisdom  and  strength  for  the  Church,  and  an  arsenal  of 
powder  for  the  subjugation  of  the  world.  The  gospel  reveals  a  system 
of  truth  that  has  to  do  v»^ith  the  wddest  range  of  thought,  the  deepest 
sentiments  of  the  mind;  the  interpretation  of  nature,  providence  and 
history,  and  the  secret  springs  of  universal  holiness  and  happiness.  The 
system  is  peculiar  in  itself;  now  coinciding  w’ith  certain  sympathies  and 
judgments  of  men,  now*  contradicting  them;  now^  stooping  to  common 
thoughts,  now  transcending  the  noblest  reasoning;  now  revealing  to  us 
some  feature  of  godlikeness  and  possible  glory  in  man,  now  frowming 
upon  our  guiltiness,  and  darkening  the  future  wfitli  terrific  storms;  pre¬ 
senting  to  us  no\v  a  law^  now  a  plan  of  mercy ;  now  the  duty  and  privilege  of 
hope,  and  now  the  need  of  fear  lest  we  should  come  short  of  rest; 
now  declaring  that  he  that  wavereth  shall  receive  nothing  of  the  Lord, 
now  that  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  shall  cast  mountains  into  the 
sea;  now'  exhorting  us  to  be  perfect,  as  God  is  perfect,  now  declaring 
that  the  best  saint  on  earth  is  a  liar  if  he  says  there  is  no  sin  in  him ; 
now  admonishing  us  to  remember  the  pit  from  which  we  were  digged, 
now  encouraging  us  to  forget  the  things  that  are  behind;  now  publish¬ 
ing  the  jorosperity  of  the  righteous  and  the  sorrow's  of  the  wicked,  now 
the  fatness  of  the  wicked,  and  the  sorrow's  of  the  people  of  God;  now 
insisting  on  obedience  to  God  rather  than  men,  and  now'  upon 
obedience  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord’s  sake;  and  every¬ 
where  announcing  the  sovereignty  of  Jehovah,  and  the  fiee-w'ill  of  all 
intelligent  creatures! 

These  truths  are  as  harmonious  as  the  spheres  that  roll  above  us,  and 
illustrate  each  one  the  other.  ISTay,  they  are  centripetal  and  centrifu¬ 
gal  forces,  that  impel  every  soul  that  yields  to  them  into  the  circle  of 
steady  motion  ar.ound  the  Eternal  Light.  The  letter  killeth.  It  is  tlie 


10 


spirit  that  niaketh  alive.  .A^ud  it  is  au  easy  thing  for  him  ’*ho  does 
not  study  earnestly  the  mind  of  the  spirit,  to  yield  himself  to  the  letter, 
till  he  mases  the  government  of  God  hostile  to  itself,  and  disciples  under 
bis  intruction  become  the  sorrowful  \dctims  of  anarchy. 

The  first  weapon  on  which  infidelity  seizes,  is  often  some  dislocated 
form  of  words,  that  in  the  scriptures,  articulated  as  an  arm  of  beauty 
and  strength  on  the  shoulder  of  truth.  The  first  railroad  stage  to  fanat¬ 
icism,  is  frequently  a  blind  zeal  for  a  fragmentary  text,  that  strikes  a 
chord  of  the  natural  heart,  w’hile  the  spirit  of  the  divine  word  orders  a  love 
and  a  discipline  of  life,  which  the  man  who  writes  the  letters  on  his  fore¬ 
head  knows  nothing  of.  And  for  these  things,  the  preachers  of  the 
gospel,  who  think  they  know'  enough  of  God’s  government,  his  scheme 
for  saving  men,  and  the  processes  of  the  gospel  in  the  w’orld,  because 
they  know  what  the  beginning  of  repentance  is,  must  answer,  somewdiat, 
each  according  to  his  negligence  of  the  written  laws  of  the  kingdom, 
and,  his  dependence  upon  the  inspiration  of  his  own  heart. 

To  have  well  balanced  ideas  of  religion,  so  that  he  is  cpialified  to 
preach  intelligently,  and  with  profit,  a  minister  of  Christ  must  be  ever 
exploring,  with  the  helps  of  history,  science  and  criticism,  the  depths  of 
the  unfathomable  word  of  God. 

Common  sense,  that  rarest  sense  in  all  the  w'orld,  of  which  we  all 
prate  so  much  and  wdiich  so  few'  of  us  have,  will  not  stand  in  the  stead 
of  the  utterances  ol  the  Most  High.  Conscience,  that  royal  master 
when  unfettered,  but  w'hich,  in  bonds,  has  made  the  altar  of  God  an 
inquisition  or  an  auction  block  thousands  of  times,  or  sent  forth  the 
maniac  with  his  flaming  torch  to  set  the  world  on  fire  in  order  to  burn 
up  sin,  cannot  stand  in  the  stead  of  the  oracles  of  serene  and  unchang¬ 
ing  truth.  Xor  may  the  religious  instincts,  often  so  holy,  and  yet  so 
liable  to  put  passion  tor  love,  egotism,  even,  for  humility,  and  man’s 
judgment  for  God’s,  be  a  guide,  instead  of  the  written  and  unvariable 
inspirations  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Xor  may  long  established  opinions  or 
practices  in  the  Church,  which  have  so  many  times  proved  to  be  as 
creeping  vines,  that  have  thickened  till  they  hid  the  sun  and  smoth¬ 
ered  the  life  of  faith ;  or  as  stagnant  reservoirs  of  a  once  living  tide,  an¬ 
swer  instead  of  “  the  law  of  the  Lord,  which  is  perfect,  converting  the 
soul;  and  the  commandment  of  the  Lord,  which  is  pure,  enlightening 
the  eyes.”  The  Bible  is  the  guide,  and  therefore,  as  far  as  may  be,  must 
be  understood  by  the  preacher  of  righteousness.  Empiricism  may 


11 


be  allowed  anywhere  el^^e;  but  never  in  him  who  handles  the  word  of 
life. 

In  the  second  place,  the  Christian  minister  should  be  furnished  in  order 
that  the  gospel  may  be  declared  effectively.  And  we  may  say  at  the 
outset,  that  the  times  are  such,  and  all  men  see  and  hear  so  much  that  is 
vigorous  and  earnest, —  so  much  that  has  length  and  beam  to  it,  that, 
tvhether  right  or  wTong,  they  are  quite  disinclined  to  hear  the  gospel  at 
all,  unless  there  be  something  of  the  same  elements  in  the  preaching  of  it. 

But  what  is  better  worth  considering,  is  the  need  of  the  people.  Of 
varied  education,  employments,  and  habits  of  thought;  of  varied  expe¬ 
rience  and  age,  each  must  receive  his  portion  in  due  season. 

There  are  believers,  divided  into  almost  as  many  classes  as  there  are 
men,  women  and  children  in  the  church:  some,  babes  in  Christ,  and 
needing  the  sincere  milk  of  the  w'ord;  some,  muscular  men,  veterans  of 
the  king’s  household;  some,  alw'ays  hoping  too  much,  and  never  seeing 
evil;  some,  hoping  too  little,  and  alw^ays  in  darkness  and  sorrow’;  some, 
troubled  with  hard  doctrines,  and  stumbling  at  the  very  mysteries  by 
which  they  live;  and  some,  w’hose  faith  girdles  the  mighty  pillars  of 
God’s  secret  judgments;  some,  alw’ays  shrinking  from  responsibility; 
others,  bold  enough  to  their  unholy  hands  to  the  tottering  ark, 
though  it  be  forbidden  them;  some,  skeptical  and  cold  by  nature;  others, 
distempered  and  fanatic;  and  all  wnth  the  seeds  of  life  in  them.  These 
he  is  to  nurture  and  guide  and  advanee  in  the  right  way. 

Surely  to  meet  the  w^ants  of  characters  so  various,  the  preacher  should 
understand  the  gospel,  so  far  as  possible,  from  its  Alpha  to  its  Omega, — 
from  the  first  pulse  of  nascent  life,  to  the  last  throb  of  the  saint  about  to 
be  glorified.  He  should  know’  the  road  to  the  Better  Land:  every 
spring  that  gladdens  the  w’ayside;  eveiy  evangelist  that  w’elcomes  and 
cheers  the  traveler;  eveiy  chamber  of  peace;  the  top  of  every  delecta¬ 
ble  mountain;  every  spot  of  enchanted  ground;  every  lion,  chained  or 
unchained;  eveiy  by-way  hung  with  the  garlands  of  deceit;  and  all  the 
ingenious  and  gracious  devices  of  heaven  for  the  care  and  guidance  of 
the  pilgi’im.  What  is  good  counsel  for  one,may  be  bad  counsel  for  another- 
That  w’hich  encourages  the  desponding,  may  make  the  presumptuous 
more  secure.  'I  hat  w'hich  aw’akens  and  startles  the  supine  and  careless, 
may  alarm  the  timid  but  sincere  disciple.  That  which  is  a  stone  of 
strength  to  a  man,  may  be  a  stone  of  stumbling  to  a  child-  And  yet  he 
sho’uld  be  able  to  instruct  all  and  hinder  none;  and  w'eave  the  truth  into 


12 

such  various  forms,  that  it  shall  be  a  garment  of  sackcloth  for  the  per¬ 
verse,  and  a  princely  robe  for  ail  who  have  a  right  to  the  consolations  of 
Christ.  In  the  store  house  there  is  that  which  is  just  suited  to  the  need 
of  every  man,  however  weak  or  strong,  self-willed  or  obedient;  how^- 
ever  complicated  the  disorders  that  embarrass  his  life,  or  however  lofty 
the  heights  to  which  he  may  have  attained.  The  preacher  must  explore 
this  treasury  of  divine  knowledge,  till,  from  the  abundance  of  God’s 
word  and  providence,  he  establishes  the  life  and  secures  the  thrift  ot 
every  member  of  the  family  of  Christ,  that  he  may  present  them  all — at 
last — to  God  without  spot,  or  w’rinkle,  or  blemish,  or  any  such  thing;  for 
the  design  of  the  ministry  is,  that  the  Church  may  “grow  up  into  him  in 
all  things,  which  is  the  head,  even  Christ.” 

There  is  another  class  of  persons  who  are  to  be  reached  by  the  preach¬ 
ing  of  the  gospel.  Those  w^ho  assent,  but  do  not  believe ;  whose  intel¬ 
lects  cannot  deny  the  truth,  but  w’hose  hearts  refuse  to  receive  Christ  as 
the  Savior.  Some  of  them  are  given  to  business,  and  some  to  pleasure* 
Some  there  are,  w'hose  honorable  life  shields  them  from  conviction; 
others,  whose  irregularities  forbid  them  to  lay  any  claim  to  righteous¬ 
ness;  some  w'ho  just  begin  to  have  conscious  opinions  in  matters  ot 
religion;  others  who  have  long  heard  the  gospel,  and jare  hardened  under 
it;  some  who  have  passed  through  many  awakenings,  and  have  not 
been  renewed;  others  who  look  to  the  recurrence  of  such  seasons  as  the 
hope  of  their  salvation;  some  who  have  been  brought  up  under  the 
training  of  pious  parents,  and  are  yet  prodigal;  others,  w^ho  never  knew 
the  family  altar,  never  heard  a  father’s  prayer;  some,  who  cannot  feel; 
others,  who  can  only  despair ;  some,  who  are  seeking  after  God,  if  haply 
they  may  find  him;  others,  who,  having  once  put  their  hands  to  the 
plough  and  looked  back,  are  not  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  some^ 
who  have  stood  upon  the  threshold  of  life  for  years,  in  the  peril  of  those 
who  halt  betw^een  two  opinions;  some,  w’hom  fear  alone  can  move;  and 
many,  who  fear  nothing  but  the  loss  of  their  good  things  here. 

Surely,  Christ’s  minister  needs  the  wisdom  that  comes  down  from  above 
and  is  profitable  to  direct;  to  have  arrows  upon  his  bow-string  fresh 
from  the  quiver  of  God,  and  tempered  in  heaven ;  to  possess  the  meek¬ 
ness  of  them  that  inherit  the  earth ;  the  love  of  an  angel,  the  guile  of 
the  serpent,  th  determination  and  strength  of  the  warrior,  and,  "withal, 
to  be  furnished  and  refurnished,  by  ever  new  acquisitions  of  the  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  powers  of  grace,  that  he  may  utter  a  distinct  and  individual 


call  to  every  iium’.s  heart,  and  yhape  the  gospel  to  him  as  the  remedy  for 
his  sin,  and  the  only  way  of  his  salvation.  One  by  one,  must  he  tear 
down  the  refuges  of  lies;  one  by  one,  must  he  pluck  away  those  slippery 
hopes  from  which  the  incorrigible  shall  slide  in  due  time;  one  by  one, 
must  he  strip  off  the  gilding  from  the  lying  ]u’omiscs  of  the  world,  until 
the  hearers  repent  and  receive  Christ,  or  the  gospel  itself  is  made  a  more 
terrible  witness  against  them,  and,  having  been  exalted  to  heaven,  they 
are  thrust  down  to  hell. 

Is  there  a  man  on  earth  of  so  much  devotion  that  all  of  it  would  not 
be  requisite  to  this  work?  Is  there  a  man  on  earth,  of  gifts  so  affluent, 
of  learning  so  varied,  of  so  great  a  stretch  of  mind,  of  powers  so  ingen¬ 
ious,  and  words  so  eloquent,  that  they  would  be  superfluous  in  this  min¬ 
istry  of  reconciliation?  How,  then,  must  we,  whose  piety  is  so  feeble, 
whose  knowledge  would  be  contemptible,  only  that  it  has  in  it  something 
of  Christ,  recoil  under  the  pressure  of  this  ministry,  when  in  view  of  it 
an  Apostle,  gifted  with  natural  genius,  and  under  the  supernatural  guid¬ 
ance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  forced  to  exclaim,  “Who  is  sufficient  for 
these  things?” 

There  is  still  another  class  of  men  Avith  whom  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  has  to  do:  those  who  deny  and  oppose  the  doctrines  of  the  cros£^ 
intellectually  as  Avell  as  spiritually;  in  numbers  many,  subtle  deceivers, 
and  being  deceiA^ed;  of  all  degrees  of  learning  —  of  all  stations  in  soci¬ 
ety;  of  all  descriptions  of  character,  from  the  openly  profligate,  to  men 
of  uprightness  and  integrity  in  the  affairs  of  the  world;  using  all  modes 
of  attack,  from  downright  blasphemy,  to  the  craft  of  Jesuits;  from  the 
scorn  of  atheism,  to  the  skeptical,  but  smooth  and  friendly,  betrayal  of 
the  gospel.  Their  strong  holds  are  bar-rooms,  theaters,  printing  offices- 
lyceum  halls,  colleges,  and  consecrated  churches.  Their  weapons  are 
ridicule,  superstition,  and  the  smatterings  of  philosophy  and  science^ 
Their  coadjutors  are  the  passions  of  men,  pride  of  intellect,  and  pride 
of  life.  NcA'cr,  or  rarely,  do  they  hear  an  evangelic  sermon  in  the  house 
of  God.  The  preacher  must  reach  them,  if  at  all,  through  society.  He 
must  so  preach  that  the  immediate  hearers  shall  be  completely  armed 
against  open  or  secret  assaults;  so  preach,  also,  that  the  firmness  and 
faith  of  disciples,  and  the  earnestness  of  their  liv^es,  shall  utter  the 
call  of  Christ  in  the  ears  of  those  Avho  do  not  visit  his  sanctuary,  perad- 
venture  to  the  saving  of  their  souls. 

To  cope  with  the  subtle  influence  of  a  skeptical  literature  alone,  filthy 


u 


and  refined,  in  this  reading  age,  would  consume  the  strengiii  and  drain 
the  resources  of  the  most  gifted  mind!  To  dissipate  the  miasma  that 
arises  from  a  seir-suCicient  Christianity  alone,  would  require  more  of  the 
electric  current  than  could  be  discharged  from  the  brains  of  all  the 
clergy  m  the  nation,  joined  together  as  the  plates  of  one  stupendous 


galvau.c  battery!  To  cut  down  the  grateful  shade  of  charms, —  to  dig 
the  roots  of  superstition  out  of  society,  so  that  no  man  should  trust  in 
amulets,  or  festivals,  or  tinkling  bells,  or  mitres;  till  Fetichism  should  be 
confined  to  Africa,  would  exhaust  the  most  ingeuious  dialectics  of  any 
age  of  the  Church,  and  leave  no  time  nor  strength  to  cope  with  any 


other  device  of  satau! 

And  3’et  it  is  the  aim  of  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  to  bind  the 
jaws  and  fetter  the  limbs  of  every  monster  of  unbelief;  to  shut  up  infi¬ 
delity  and  superstition  to  their  own  corruption,  till  they  rot  and  perish; 
to  snatch  victims  couiinually  from  the  altar  of  death,  and  to  lead  the 
slaves  of  sin  into  the  liberty  of  Christ.  There  are  powers  in  the  word 
of  God,  and  in  the  gospel  of  his  Sou,  able  to  batter  the  huge  structures 
that  cast  their  gloomy  shadows  across  the  world,  and  tumble  them 
into  ruins,  and  to  mow  down  the  bristling  ranks  of  the  enemies  of  the 
faiih;  but  who  shall  handle  these  j^owers?  Who  shall  carry  a  staff  that 
is  like  a  weavers  beam?  AVho  shall  be  the  artilleryman  of  the  ord- 
nance  of  God?  Who  shall  ride  the  war-horses?  Who  bear  the  armor  of 
the  great  Captain  of  Salvation?  Well  might  the  Apostle  take  the 
words  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  enemies  of  the  cross,  and  call  that  “the 
foo  lishiess  of  preaching,”  by  which  the  world  is  to  be  saved!  If  the 
ministry  were  ordained  of  man,  the  Church  might  well  despair.  But 
this  ministry  is  “committed  to  earthen  vessels,  that  the  excellency  of  the 
power  may  be  of  God.”  “It  is  not  by  might,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith 
the  Lord.”  And  yet,  God  works  by  means;  by  the  industry,  faithful¬ 
ness,  intelligence  and  wisdom  of  his  ministers.  A  sharp  axe  will  cut  bet¬ 
ter  than  a  dull  one,  if  God  is  the  maker  of  them  both.  A  clear,  dis¬ 
criminating  exhibition  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  illustrated  by  the 
abundance  God  has  provided,  is  more  effective  than  confused  and  point¬ 
less  lucubrations,  though  it  be  true  that  when  Paul  plants  and  Apollos 
waters,  it  is  God  that  giveth  the  increase.  The  gospel  is  the  highest 
truth,  the  purest  reason,  and  is  received  in,  and  giveth,  light.  God  is 
Light,  and  in  him  there  is  no  darkness  at  all,  and  the  stewards  of  his 
mysteries,  instead  of  daikeniughis  couu&elshy  icords  without  knoivledge 
should  make  them  blaze  with  the  radiance  of  the  Eteruai  Throne, 


There  is  another  sphere  of  ministerial  labor,  of  great  importance, — 
commonly  called  “  pastoral  ”  labor.  The  fulfillment  of  its  duties  is, 
properly,  only  another  mode  of  preaching  the  gospel.  As,  however,  it 
is  ordinarily  considered  separately,  we  shall  speak  of  it  by  itself. 

There  are  the  sick,  the  infirm  and  the  aged,  who  cannot  go  up  to  the 
house  of  God,  to  whom  the  ministrations  of  a  good  pastor  are  invalua¬ 
ble,  both  for  consolatiun  and  profit,  d  hey  can  read  the  Bible,  and  they 
have  favorable  opportunities  for  meditating  upon  the  wonderful  ways  of 
God.  They  may  also,  some  of  them,  have  the  privilege  of  domestic 
worship,  and  may  sit  together  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  wnlh  Christian 
friends.  But,  however  happily  they  may  be  situated  in  these  respects, 
they  need,  also,  the  sympathy  and  counsel  of  one  whose  life  is  given  to 
the  cure  of  souls,  and  wdiose  constant  study  is  how  he  mav  reclaim  the 
wayward,  and  comfort  and  strengthen  the  believer. 

There  are  the  dying,  from  whom  the  w’orld  is  fading  away,  and  upon 
whom  the  morning  of  eternity  is  soon  to  break.  The  ambassador  for 
Christ  should  be  with  them,  to  utter  distinctly  to  the  confused  mind,  the 
veritable  issues  of  life;  to  offer  at  the  last  hour,  in  the  name  of  his  master, 
the  remission  of  sins,  by  faith  in  the  crucified  Savior;  to  dispel  the 
doubts  of  the  faint-hearted,  to  comfort  still  more  the  joyful  expectant  of 
immortalitv,  and  to  carry  home  wdth  him  lessons  of  vanity  and  faiih  for 
his  own  high  calling. 

There  are  those,  also,  who  are  in  affliction.  The  Lord  has  given  them 
sorrow’  to  drink;  their  hearts  bleed;  the  w’orld  is  dark,  and  there  is  no 
help  in  man.  But  there  is  help  in  God,  and  he  who  can  move  them  to 
take  hold  on  the  promises;  assist  them  in  coming  nearer  to  him  wdio  is 
all  love  and  all  wisdom,  and  offer  them  a  real  sympathy  of  spirit,  as  a 
good  pastor  may,  fulfills  one  of  the  highest  offices  of  the  ministry,  and 
does  a  w’ork  pre-eminently  like  the  work  w  Inch  Christ  did,  w  hen  he  was 
in  the  world.  Jde  can  say  no  more  than  others.  He  may  Inive  a  heart 
no  warmer,  but  he  is  a  consoler  auihorized  of  God  to  sjieak  peace  to 
the  believer,  and  to  show’  to  the  unbeliever,  the  warmth  of  eternal  love. 

The  w’ork  we  hav’c  spoken  of  thus  far,  is,  in  our  view',  altogether  the 
important  part  of  pastoral  labor.  There  is,  however,  another  kind  of 
w’ork:  visiting  from  house  to  house.  It  affords  occasions  for  deepening 
the  convictions  of  the  unbelieving,  and  increasing  the  joy  of  the  sa'nt. 
A  w’ord  fitly  spoken  is  like  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver;  and  from 
bouse  to  house,  the  gospel  may  be  preached,  especially  in  seasons  or 


16 


awakening,  with  encouraging  success.  And  yet,  after  all  that  may  be 
said,  the  advantage  of  ordinary  parochial  \isitations,  we  apprehend,  is  of 
another  kind  than  it  is  generally  supposed  to  be.  Where  the  attention 
of  the  people  is  arrested,  and  there  are  no  strangers  in  the  family  circle 
religious  conversation  may  be  easy  and  profitable.  But  quite  frequent¬ 
ly  it  occurs,  by  reason  of  a  thousand  circumstances  over  which  the  jias- 
tor  has  no  control,  that  his  visit  must,  in  ail  propriety,  be  simply  of  a 
social  character.  Nor  is  it  unimportant  in  this  point  of  view.  To  know 
the  habits  of  living,  the  habits  of  thought,  the  prejudices,  susceptibili¬ 
ties,  and  ruling  ideas  of  his  people,  is  of  vast  moment  to  him  as  a 
preacher  who  W'Ould  adapt  his  ministry  to  the  minds  he  endeavors  to 
teach.  He  must  know  his  people.  And  it  is  a  fair  question  to  raise 
whether  he  who  keeps  himself  always  up  to  the  point  of  religious 
exhortation,  can  know"  them,  except  the  few  w"ho  are  ready  to  open  their 
hearts  to  him.  An  hour’s  conveisalion  upon  commerce,  or  agriculture, 
or  music,  or  anything  else,  wuth  the  ease  that  puts  others  at  ease,  and 
leaves  them  to  be  themselves,  is  of  great  value  to  him  for  right 
preaching,  wdiile  it  serves  as  an  entering  w’edge  to  rift  the  close  grain  of 
natural  reserve,  and  open  a  wmy  for  the  indw'elling  of  the  truth.  There 
is  no  class  of  men  in  the  world  so  much  imposed  upon,  as  to  wdiat  is 
really  in  1he  world,  and  as  to  w"hat  their  owm  people  really  are,  as  minis¬ 
ters  of  the  gospel;  for  the  reason  that  they  are  absent  much  from 
society,  and  wdien  in  it,  see,  ordinarily,  only  the  unruffled  and  unsoiled 
Sunday  dress  of  human  character. 

Ordinary  pastoral  visiting,  wdiich  must  be  done  to  a  great  extent  by 
the  day  of  the  month,  rather  than  by  the  choice  of  occasions,  should 
aim,  indeed,  at  direct  spiritual  improvement;  and  yet,  if  it  falls  some¬ 
what  short  in  this  respect,  it  is  still  important  as  the  means  of  per¬ 
sonal  interest  and  good  understanding,  between  the  pastor  and  his 
people. 

It  is  a  difficult  thing  to  be  a  good  pastor.  And  it  is  not  at  all  sur¬ 
prising  to  any  minister,  and  probably  is  not  to  the  people  generally,  that 
in  the  New  Testament,  pastors  and  teachers  w"ere  distinct  in  office,  and 
that  the  office  of  pastor  is  enumerated  among  the  “charisms^^  “or  gifts" 
of  the  gospel.  It  requires  intelligence  and  w-isdom,  but  especially  some¬ 
thing  else,  which  is  neither  intelligence  nor  wisdom:  an  indescribable 
capability,  wdiich  embraces  both,  and  is  a  hundred  fold  more  besides. 
There  are  many  good  preachers  w'ho  are  not  good  pastors;  and  many 


17 


good  pastors  who  are  not  good  preachers;  and  rarely  is  it  that  men  are 
found  who  excel  in  both  these  departments  of  ministerial  labor.  The 
two  offices  are  joined  together,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  how  they  help  one 
another  in  theory,  and,  to  an  important  extent,  practically;  and  yet  it 
must  be  confessed  that  they  are  very  diverse  from  each  other.  The 
question  may  occur.  Which  shall  give  way,  when,  in  the  multiplied  cares 
of  the  ministry,  one  must  yield  a  little  to  the  other?  Evidently,  the 
ministrations  of  the  sanctuary,  'where  the  multitude  go  to  hear  of  God 
and  of  the  way  of  salvation,  and  where  they  receive  their  impressions  as 
to  what  Christianity  is,  must  be  maintained.  If  not  for  salvation,  as  a 
witness,  the  gospel  must  be  preached  'publicly,  and  if  preached  at  all,  be 
preached  with  all  the  discrimination  and  power  that  God  vouchsafes  to 
his  servants. 


IN  CLOSING,  WE  RPMARKt 

l«f.  A  minister  must  have  his  study.  We  have  said  that  he  must 
have  a  well  furnished  mind,  and  that  nothing  can  take  the  place  of  it. 
He  must  have  a  right  heart,  and  be  under  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit^ 
or,  whatever  else  he  may  be,  he  will  be  as  sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling 
cymbal.  But  even  a  right  heart  and  the  measure  of  the  spirit  which 
God  ordinarily  bestows  upon  his  ministers,  cannot  secure  a  thorough 
acquaintance  with  the  Divine  Government,  and  a  discriminating  appli¬ 
cation  of  the  principles  of  that  government  to  the  Church  and  the 
world,  without  the  study  and  mental  discipline  of  the  man.  The  resour¬ 
ces  from  which  he  may  draw,  are  abundant;  but  there  are  no  expresses 
commissioned  to  bring  great  ingots  to  his  door  while  he  is  at  ease,  or 
engaged  in  thoughts  of  other  things.  Nor  do  these  ingots  lie  scattered 
in  the  summer  fields  where  he  may  gather  them  in  a  morning  walk.  The 
gold  is  buried  deep.  He  must  dig,  and  wash,  and  bear  it  away  upon 
his  own  shoulders,  and  smelt  it  over  fires  kindled  by  his  own  hands. 
Pearls  of  thought  are  like  the  pearls  of  the  sea.  He  must  dive  down 
after  them,  and  from  ocean  caves,  sometimes  with  bleeding  nostrils,  bring 
up  the  jewels  that  are  to  adorn  his  people  forever.  Knowledge  is  not 
so  cheap  a  thing  as  to  be  obtained  without  a  price.  The  workings  of 
the  human  mind  are  not  so  obvious  that  he  may  learn  them  in  a  day. 
God’s  government  is  not  so  narrow  that  he  can  scan  it  by  a  glance.  The 
doctrines  of  Christ  are  not  so  meagre, —  the  privileges  of  the  saints  are 
not  BO  thin  and  shallow,  that  a  few  choice  sermons  can  bring  into  obser- 


ration  the  manifold  wisdom  and  grace  of  God.  It  is  of  Jehovah,  the 
greatest  of  all  beings,  that  he  speaks.  It  is  the  Bible  he  expounds,  so 
profound  and  varied  in  its  lessons  of  wisdom,  that  sages  have  found 
themselves,  at  three  score  years  and  ten,  just  entering  upon  its  glories. 
The  mind  upon  which  he  plays  is  a  harp  strung  with  a  thousand  delicate 
chords,  from  which  are  swept  eternal  harmonies  only  by  the  hand  of  a 
master.  There  are,  however,  no  gifts  of  God  without  labor.  And  it 
labor,  there  must  be  time  and  opportunity.  The  minister  must  have 
his  study,  ample  in  its  hours  and  sacred  to  toil.  If  he  is  kept  on  foot 
like  an  errand  boy,  the  bible  will  be  a  sealed  book;  the  ministry  of 
the  abundance  of  God  will  be  only  a  sign  of  famine,  and  the  lining  word 
become  the  bandaged  mummy  of  ages  that  are  dead. 

2iid.  The  minister  of  Christ  must  keep  to  his  calling.  There  is  work 
enough  for  him  to  do  in  it,  without  putting  his  hand  to  any  other  enter¬ 
prise.  There  are  a  great  many  things  that  ought  to  be  done,  but  it  ia 
not  every  man  that  ought  to  do  what  ought  to  be  done.  There  are  dif¬ 
ferent  callings;  let  every  man  abide  in  the  calling  wherein  he  is  called. 
Russia  ought  to  be  a  good  quiet  member  of  the  brotherhood  of  empires. 
There  ought  to  be  good  harbors  on  all  the  lakes.  There  ought,  perhaps, 
to  be  a  lock  at  the  mouth  of  our  own  river.  But  there  are  men  whoso 
honorable  calling  it  may  be  to  look  after  these  important  affairs.  The 
minister’s  calling  is  the  cure  of  souls.  All  that  can  be  done  by  preach¬ 
ing  Christ  crucified,  by  leading  the  people  to  behold  the  Lamb  of  God 
which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world,  by  traversing  the  length  and 
breadth  of  that  kingdom  which  is  not  of  this  world,  and  showing  its 
powers  and  graces  to  the  elect  of  God;  all  that  can  be  done  with  the 
sword  of  the  spirit  to  cut  through  the  front  of  wrong  evei^where,  but 
more  particularly  in  the  customs  and  habits  of  those  w^ho  are  within  the 
sphere  of  his  immediate  influence,  the  minister  of  Christ  may  do, — but 
no  more.  When  there  are  no  passages  of  revelation  that  are  dark  to 
him,  when  the  whole  scope  and  glory  of  the  scheme  of  salvation  ia 
comprehended,  when  he  has  exhausted  the  wisdom  of  the  gospel  upon 
believers  and  unbelievers,  and  has  no  more  to  learn  or  to  teach,  when  he 
has  solved  the  difficulties  of  every  seeker  after  the  truth,  and  brought  hia 
people  up  to  completeness  in  Christ,  so  that  there  is  no  more  for  them 
to  attain  in  this  life ;  or  w’hen  a  new  and  better  way  of  saving  the  world 
is  discovered  than  that  of  preaching  Christ,  the  reception  of  whom  is 
the  beginning  and  the  middle  and  the  end  of  all  reformation,  then,  and 


not  till  then,  may  be  yield  up  the  stewardiship  of  the  mysteries  of  God, 
for  the  thousand  good  enterprises  that  are  not  compassed  and  guided 
by,  or  advances  of,  the  faith  of  the  cross. 

3d.  In  order  to  make  his  office  truly  honornble,  and  to  do  well  the 
work  which  is  given  him  to  do,  a  minister  of  the  gospel  should  cultivate 
an  independent  spirit.  He  is  not  to  be  reckless  and  heady;  not  to  be 
opinionated  and  self-confident;  not  to  be  stubborn  and  overbearing; 
not  to  be  unsusceptible  to  the  influence  of  custom  or  a  healthy  public 
opinion;  but  he  should  be  himself,  and  have  an  individuality  as  marked 
as  that  of  other  men.  That  he  is  a  minister  ought  to  make  him  none 
the  less  a  man  everywhere,  who  has  the  same  rights  in  society,  the  same 
independence  of  character  in  reference  to  his  habits  of  living  and  the 
free  expression  of  his  opinions  upon  all  questions  that  agitate  the  com¬ 
munity  or  the  world,  that  other  men  claim  for  themselves.  He  may 
not  make  the  pulpit  the  place  for  utteriug  all  that  he  thinks  and  believes, 
except  it  be  in  reference  to  the  gospel  and  its  progress  among  men;  but 
out  of  the  pulpit,  we  undertake  to  say,  he  is  something  less  than  a  man, 
and  worthy  of  less  respect  than  a  man,  if  he  cannot  command  for  him¬ 
self  the  freedom  that  belongs  to  every  intelligent  and  upright  citizen. 
No  company  of  men  may  assume  the  supervision  of  his  private  affairs. 
Nor  may  they  begrudge  him  his  opinion  on  matters  not  directly  relig¬ 
ious,  whether  they  be  expressed  in  the  street  or  in  the  drawing-room  or 
at  the  ballot  box,  any  more  than  he  in  return  may  arraign  them  in  the 
sanctuary  to  answer  for  theirs.  He  has  duties  to  perform  as  a  neighbor 
and  as  a  member  of  the  body  politic,  from  which  he  is  not  exempt  be¬ 
cause  he  is  called  to  preach  the  gospel;  and  no  fair  minded  community 
would  wish  to  deprive  him  of  the  immunities  and  advantages,  be  they 
greater  or  less,  that  correspond  to  these  duties. 

It  would  be  an  affront  to  the  intelligence  and  liberality  of  the  people 
to  whom  we  are  called,  to  suspect  a  dissent  on  their  part  from  proposi- . 
tions  so  self-evident  to  all  but  narrow  and  ignoble  minds.  A  servile, 
spongy  character,  that  sucks  in  its  sentiments  and  opinions  indifferently 
from  any  company  into  which  it  may  happen  to  be  thrown;  that  swells 
into  almost  any  dimensions  when  there  is  no  outward  pressure,  and  may 
be  squeezed  into  almost  any  shape  by  the  hands  of  others,  is  as  little 
worthy  of  regard  in  the  eyes  of  high-minded  and  discerning  men,  as  it  is 
impotent  to  any  good  work  in  the  world. 

A  minister  must  be  independent,  also,  in  the  pulpit.  He  must  not  go 


20 


beyond  the  Evangelic  Commission;  nor  within  the  range  of  proper  pul¬ 
pit  ministrations  must  he  set  himself  up  as  wiser  than  all  the  rest  of 
the  world.  He  must  not  dogmatize  nor  command,  and  yet  he  must 
speak  with  fearlessness,  uttering  the  whole  counsel  of  God;  nor  stop  to 
ask  the  question  whether  it  will  please  or  displease  those  who  hear  him. 
He  must  be  wise,  seize  upon  favorable  opportunities;  clothe  his  speech 
with  meekness,  and  warm  it  with  love;  and  instead  of  thrusting  himself 
before  the  truth,  always  hide  behind  it;  but  never  moderate  one  tittle  of 
the  law  or  one  iota  of  the  gospel  because  it  rasps  the  consciences  of 
men,  runs  athwart  their  plans,  and  excites  hostility  to  him  or  the  church 
of  which  he  is  the  pastor. 

He  is  sent  to  be  a  leader  in  Israel,  to  utter  the  truths  of  Christ;  not  to 
fatten  himself  upon  applause,  nor  to  gain  his  livelihood  through  the 
favor  w^hich  smooth  wmrds  and  a  pleasant  song  may  secure  to  him.  His 
commission  is  to  awake  the  dead,  inspire  the  living,  make  known  God’s 
pleasure,  fortify  the  truth,  and  to  drive  home  the  arrows  of  conviction 
wherever  transgTession  has  lodged  in  the  heart  or  the  life.  He  is  to 
know  nothing  of  an  expediency  that  compromises  the  truth ;  nothing  of 
the  importance  of  securing  the  good  will  of  any  man,  be  he  with  or  with¬ 
out  influence,  in  the  church  or  out  of  it.  He  speaks  for  his  master,  the 
great  Head  of  the  Church,  and  asks  only,  with  simplicity  of  heart 
‘‘  Master,  what  is  thy  will?  ”  and  reutters  that  will,  though  he  inherit  the 
penury  of  the  Xazarene,  and  although  it  happen  to  him  as  it  did  once 
to  our  Lord  Vvhen  many  who  had  followed  him  hitherto  were  offended 
at  his  hard  sayings,  and  went  no  more  after  him.  The  minister  of  Christ 
is  a  leader  in  Israel;  and  if  he  only  floats  with  the  current  of  thought, 
feeling  and  practice  that  glides  smoothly  through  society,  or  if  he  falters 
at  the  judgment  of  men;  if,  for  example,  he  waits  till  all  the  members  of 
the  church  have  risen  up  against  the  companies  in  w'hich  they  are  stock¬ 
holders,  because  they  send  forth  their  trains  of  avarice  to  whistle  and 
scream  for  gain  in  the  sabbath  stillness  of  every  city  and  village  in  the 
land,  before  he  thinks  it  wise  to  preach  against  the  prostitution  of  God’s 
holy  day;  if  he  fears  to  lay  his  hand  on  pharisaism,  and  strip  off,  as  well 
as  he  may  be  able  to,  its  broad  phylacteries,  and  pronounce  the  woes  of 
Christ  against  its  anointed  hypocrisies,  because  he  will  be  accounted 
himself  as  wanting  in  spirituality;  if  he  fears  to  let  out  the  whole  tide 
of  his  emotional  nature  into  the  call  of  God  to  the  unbelieving  and  per¬ 
ishing;  or  takes  counsel  wuth  flesh  and  blood  in  proclaiming  any  of 


21 


Christ's  words  to  men,  he  is  eminently  unfit  to  be  an  “Ambassador,” —  a 
“Minister"  of  Christ,  a  “Steward  of  the  mysteries  of  God.”  Nay,  if  he 
be  a  man  of  ordinary  parts,  he  is  guilty  of  the  profoundest  folly.  He 
has  already  thrown  his  prospects  for  this  world  to  the  winds,  in  ente¬ 
ring  upon  his  high  calling;  and  then,  after  having  laid  himself  upon  the 
altar,  to  stammer  and  cringe  for  a  little  favor,  is  to  lose  both  the  world 
and  his  everlasting  reward! 

We  have  said  these  things  in  part  to  indicate  our  own  purpose, 
and  quite  as  much  to  fortify  ourselves  against  temptation.  For  we  of 
the  ministry,  with  our  susceptibilities  to  friendship,  to  personal  and  pub¬ 
lic  favor;  with  our  families  looking  to  us  for  bread  and  the  means  of 
education,  and  with  our  little  faith  in  the  promises  of  God,  for  which  we 
ought  to  be  heartily  ashamed,  find  that  it  is  of  no  little  moment  to  us 
whether  we  please  or  displease,  and  so  are  tempted  to  accommodate  the 
gospel,  to  the  disposition  and  tone  of  society, —  not  with  such  a  naked 
proposition  before  us,  but  by  the  reality  of  it,  under  the  specious  plea 
of  “expediency,”  “Christian  policy,”  and  like  heavenly  considerations. 
God  grant  that  the  fear  of  man  may  never  be  a  snare  to  us! 

4thly.  A  minister  of  Christ  should  live  near  to  God.  The  work  in 
which  he  is  engaged  is  God’s  work,  and  his  commission  is  from  Him. 
The  design  of  it  is  to  bring  God  into  honor  among  men,  and  to  bring 
men  into  the  knowledge  and  blessedness  of  God.  He  must,  therefore* 
sympathize  with  His  government,  and  identify  himself  with  the  interests 
of  Ills  kingdom.  He  must  breathe  the  atmosphere  of  the  Celestial 
Court,  and  partake  of  the  spirit  of  those  who  dwell  about  the  '1  hrone, 
in  order  to  be  a  faithful  and  efficient  servant.  He  cannot  trust  himself 
in  the  interpretation  of  the  word,  without  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit. 
He  cannot  utter  the  call  of  life,  and  repeat  the  issues  of  unbelief,  he 
cannot  plead  the  cause  of  righteousness  and  salvation,  unless  he  can  say 
to  his  Father,  “all  thy  thoughts  are  precious;”  nor  labor  effectively 
without  the  assurance  that  God  is  with  him,  nor  bear  the  heat  and  bur¬ 
den  of  the  day,  unless  he  realizes  that  the  everlasting  arm  is  under  him. 

He  is  a  co-worker  with  Christ,  in  whom  are  all  the  springs  of  redemp¬ 
tion;  and  he  must  let  his  pitcher  down  into  the  well  of  His  abounding 
zeal  and  grace,  for  the  draught  that  shall  refresh  and  quicken  him  in 
every  good  word  and  work.  In  Christ  alone  does  he  find  life  for  him¬ 
self.  In  Christ  alone  can  he  levy  upon  the  riches  of  the  gospel  for  his 
people.  Christ  must  be  a  Savior  to  him,  so  that  he  shall  /ee/ that  there 


•2*J 


are  foundations  under  him.  Christ  must  be  a  Master  to  him,  so  that  he 
may  not  waver  between  divided  counsels.  Christ  must  be  a  Friend  to 
him,  so  that  the  secrets  of  the  Lord  may  come  into  his  heart.  A  work 
is  put  into  his  hands  he  would  not  lay  a  finger  to,  did  he  not  believe  him¬ 
self  called  of  God.  He  is  ignorant,  weak,  perverse,  exposed, —  and  he 
must  have  help  from  above.  His  words  may  be  ingenious,  but  they  will 
fall  like  water  upon  the  ground,  unless  they  are  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost.  He  may  have  a  little  learning,  but  it  will  be  thin  and  lean  with¬ 
out  the  breath  of  God  in  it,  and  all  the  material  of  the  schools  nothing 
better  than  a  formless  void  unless  there  be  the  brooding  of  the  Spirit. 
If  the  blind  lead  the  blind  both  shall  fall  into  the  ditch,  and  he  is  blind, 
if  Christ  does  not  anoint  his  eyes  day  by  day. 


My  friends,  it  is  four  months  since  I  began  to  preach  the  gospel  among 
vou.  I  come  to  vou  now,  however,  for  the  first  time  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  officially  clothed  with  the  responsibilities  of  a  pastor.  Nothing 
could  have  induced  me  to  commit  myself  to  a  position  so  arduous,  and 
involving  so  many  issues,  both  for  time  and  for  eternity,  but  a  desire  to 
serve  the  Master,  and  so  to  fulfill  my  course  in  the  world.  The  work  of 
the  ministry,  besides  its  responsibleness,  is  burdened  with  labors  that  are 
never  finished,  and  from  which  there  is  no  release;  and,  withal,  by  its 
cares  and  anxieties  makes,  perhaps,  a  greater  draft  upon  the  vital  ener¬ 
gies  than  any  other  calling.  It  is,  however,  a  most  delightful  work,  iden¬ 
tifying  one,  as  it  does,  wdth  the  cause  of  the  Savior,  and  engaging  the 
attention  here  upon  the  constitution  and  growth  of  a  kingdom  that  shall 
have  no  end.  And  I  desire  to  give  thanks  publicly  to  Almighty  God 
for  the  privilege  of  being  among  the  least  of  those  to  whom,  for  the 
growth  of  this  kingdom  is  committed  the  ministry  of  reconciliation.  In 
my  labors  among  you,  I  hope  to  have  your  hearty  sympathy,  and  your 
unw^earied  co-operation.  The  kind  attentions  you  have  bestow’ed  upon 
me  and  my  family, — your  liberal  endeavors  to  make  us  comfortable  and 
happy  in  this,  to  us,  new  and  strange  country,  assure  us  of  friendship  and 
personal  esteem  quite  beyond  our  deserts,  and  make  us  confident  that 
you  will  appreciate  our  responsibilities,  bear  with  our  infirmities  and  re- 
v-oeivo  our  words  in  love. 


23 


While  we  do  not  dream  of  realizing  our  own  ideal  of  ministerial  labor 
or  of  meeting  the  expectations  in  which  you  are  so  generous  as  to  in¬ 
dulge,  it  shall  nevertheless  be  our  care  and  our  pleasure  to  serve  you  in 
the  gospel  according  to  the  grace  that  may  be  given  us.  All  our  pow¬ 
ers  of  body  and  mind  and  heart,  are  yours. 

The  words  of  welcome  that  greeted  us  at  our  installation, — words  whose 
mellow  cadences  fell  upon  our  spirit  like  a  sweet  dream  and  made  us  be¬ 
lieve  that  we  were  installed  really  in  your  hearts,  we  accept  as  the  voice  of 
you  all;  and  we  pray  God  that  our  ministry  may  be  such,  that  you  who 
in  word  or  spirit  have  welcomed  Christ’s  minister  here,  may  be  w'elcom- 
ed  of  Christ  in  heaven,  and  share  wdth  him  his  exceeding  glory. 


\ 


*  *4 


■  ,C/’ 


•  fii* 


